Today’s Scripture Reading (November
3, 2013): Isaiah 4
Playstation
4 is due to be released in a couple of weeks. So, in honor of all of the gamers
out there, we are starting to see the release of the commercials advertising
the new gaming system. I have to admit that the commercials are intriguing.
What the viewer sees is a buffet selection of violent game images, but what the
viewer hears is something quite different. It is a lilting happy tune where the
character are extolling the beautiful day and how happy they are to be able to
spend the day together with each other. There is something special in the
incongruity between what is being said and what is being seen that draws our
attention. And what is even more important, we remember the commercial and
connect with the product that they are trying to sell us.
It is an old
trick that is used in movies all of the time. Create a contrast in the movie
and the incongruence will draw people in. We can’t figure out how it works, but
we desperately want to understand. And so we keep on watching. I actually
believe it was part of the attraction that the fans had with the television
show M*A*S*H. I mean, who could dream of placing a comedy in the middle of war
surrounded by guns and bombs and death – and it was not cartoon violence, this
was real death. Yet for years we tuned in and watched.
Isaiah is
describing dark days for Judah. A time of war and death, a time when people do
things that under normal circumstance they would never even think of doing.
These are the days of intense suffering and overwhelming trials. Yet, in the
midst of this picture that Isaiah is painting for his readers shines a ray of
light. It is a prophecy of the coming Messiah. In the middle of a very ugly
story comes something beautiful; in the middle of death we are told of a time
when there will be much fruit. And it is not an accident, it is very intentional.
The message of Isaiah is that no matter what is going on, the Messiah, the one
from God is still coming. It might not be in this dark moment, but the Messiah
is on his way. And his coming will be even more beautiful because of the dark
time that that he would enter into.
When Jesus
entered into this world, it was during another dark time. In the midst of the
dark ugliness of a Roman occupation shone the beauty of the one who loved us enough
to die in our place. In the midst of death; incredible fruit. And we know what
Isaiah could only dream about. The Messiah has come. In the midst of our
darkness the incongruence still exists - the King is here!
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah
5
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